(JTA) — A White Plains, New York, man was arrested for allegedly sending and anti-Semitic-laced email to the Greenburgh town supervisor.

Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner had been pushing to remove a monument to Confederate soldiers in a private cemetery on the town. At the beginning of the month he backed off his request to remove the obelisk-shaped monument in Mount Hope Cemetery, saying he had come to view it as a symbol of reconciliation rather than of the Confederacy or white supremacy, the Journal News reported.

Timothy Goetz sent the hate mail last month prior to Feiner’s walk-back.

Goetz was arrested on Wednesday charged with aggravated harassment as a hate crime, a felony.

“While we respect everyone’s right to free speech, this was clearly a case where that line was crossed,” Greenburgh Police Chief Chris McNerney said in a statement. “We want to send a message that such hate filled threats will be fully investigated and those responsible will be brought to justice.”